What happens when you sit down with a driven, successful entrepreneur with a unique intellect and tremendous capacity for learning who had just returned from a month of re-centering through yoga in Zanzibar and hiking with gorillas in Rwanda? You get this podcast episode. Brad Grossman, founder and CEO of Zeitguide, has made a career of distilling the world just as it's coming around the corner, and he's only getting started. This episode is full of insight into building a career, knowing yourself and finding happiness in what you do. Recorded on a sunny day with screeching children in the background that turned into a thunderstorm, all of which is audible, it's a wild ride. I hope you enjoy and thanks for listening.

Filmmaker Cary Patrick Martin is a truly independent artist, creating work he believes in and work that inspires him. This episode captures the long road of finding your medium, how to deal with the grind of making your work (even if that means holding down a day job) and loving what you do.

Cary's new short narrative film, Coffee and A Donut, is making its Queens debut at The Festival of Cinema NYC on Thursday August 8th at 8:15pm.

Filmmaker Charles Caracciolo is a thoughtful, engaged and inquisitive artist packaged as a guy from the neighborhood. At 55 years old and after 30+ years working as a commercial video editor, he has released his first film, the feature length documentary "We Were All Nobody's". This episode is loaded with his infectious excitement, deep knowledge and strong sense of self - the characteristics that have pushed him not only to continue dreaming, but to make those dreams come true.

There is a romantic notion of the independent cinema auteur, a mystique of hustle and creative wrangling, drive, passion, brilliance and a clear voice that is abundantly true in the lives and careers of co-director/co-producer documentary film team Rose Rosenblatt and Marion Lipschutz. With the release of their eighth feature length documentary, Bei Bei, Rose and Marion took some time to talk about the making of the film, with amazing insight into their creative and production process, working as a team from conception to post-production, persevering in a career as independent filmmakers, and being true to their voice. If you read between the lines about their new, and wonderful, film, this episode will leave you with a masterclass on finding purpose in your work and bringing it to life for an audience no matter what.

Bei Bei screens on August 10th at Festival of Cinema NYC (link in notes below).

If fiber art were a person, it would be artist Rose Pearlman. She exudes the type of confidence and style in her process that only comes from a lifetime of working consistently and diligently. Simply, she is close to her craft in a really inspiring way. In this episode, hear the difference between being an Artist and an artist, what it is like to grow up living with dozens of artists in the woods, and how to persevere through the winding road of professional and personal process.

Director Mariah Wilson took years of experience from working as a television producer and created her most ambitious documentary film project yet - the feature length Silent Forests. We talk about the movie, the type of hustle needed to build a career, how not to dry out camera bags in the jungle, and much more. Thanks for listening.

Writer and director Sarah Pirozek has worn many hats throughout her triumphant career from the art department to directing music videos, commercials, documentary films, television shows, and much more. And still, she continues to push into new territory. Her first narrative feature film, #Like, makes its east coast premiere at the Brooklyn Film Festival on June 1st, 2019. Hear us cover a lot of ground, from how she broke into the industry, the barriers women can face trying to make it in film, the ins and outs of shooting an indie feature, but most importantly how to kick ass and stay true to yourself at the same time.

Director Andrea Cordoba may have set her sights high in shooting, editing and producing her first film of any length, let alone a feature length documentary. But the tall order did not slow her down at all. Hear the story of how she put her passion and talents behind her immense efforts to create a powerful and impactful film.

Marco Ursino, executive director and creator of the Brooklyn Film Festival, has mixed a strong will with enduring curiosity and passion to help foster independent film in Brooklyn and beyond. Hear him relate his own story of perseverance to his clear and empowering advice for young filmmakers.

Director of photography Jay Feather is a friendly and humble guy whose breadth of career experience affirms his strong commitment to both the artistry and technical prowess, which have put him among the top of the game in television, commercials and film work. In this episode, hear Jay describe a path paved with focus, hard work, and being a pleasure to work with.